All pink and grey and pretty, this nattily packaged 4 CD box set
collects four of Kiri Te Kanawa’s studio recordings made between 1988
and 1997. She is thus found here in prime vocal condition, singing in three
languages and under four different, distinguished conductors. Two of the
discs are devoted to Italian opera and there’s one each allocated to
French and German opera. The second disc is wholly devoted to the composer
whose idiom her creamy, radiant voice often suited ideally: Puccini.

Renowned especially for her singing of leading ladies in Strauss and
Mozart operas, the absence of the latter, with the exception of one aria for
Pamina, is noticeable here. No Countess, no Fiordiligi, no Elvira - and, for
that matter, no Desdemona or Amelia, even though we hear her sing three
other Verdi heroines from Il trovatore”, “La traviata” and
“La forza del destino”.

Still, there is no claim from Warner that this represents a
“Best of” collection or a comprehensive review of her career; it
is simply a convenient and attractive repackaging available at a bargain
price to admirers of a very un-diva-ish soprano star especially beloved of
British and American audiences.

The singing is not flawless; sometimes there is a hint of catch or
hoarseness on attempted pianissimo and also blank passages of
characterisation which play into the hands of those who accuse her of being
dramatically bland; the very evenness of her tonal emission and registration
throughout her range can sometimes create an impression of too much ease
where other singers have audibly to struggle.

Ultimately, however, the overwhelming impression is of a voice of
surpassing beauty. The ample, soaring top notes in the Verdi arias, the
tender, feminine quality so suited to Massenet’s plaintive melodies,
the unexpected power of her cries of “Azaël” in the aria
from Debussy’s rarely heard “L’enfant prodigue”.
Arias from Charpentier’s “Louise” and “Les
pêcheurs de perles” both indicate that this is a singer of
exceptional gifts and versatility. There are surprises here for those who
have forgotten how apt is her voice to the stately beauty of Gluck, but if
there is one aria which best typifies her supremacy in some repertoire, it
is Magda’s “Che il bel sogno di Doretta” from “La
rondine”, with its arching, stratospheric phrases so suited to her
voice. Yet she can draw, albeit sparingly, upon a trenchant lower register
and rise to the tragic nobility of Leonora and Elisabetta in their desperate
appeals to God. I must here put in a word for the beautiful cor anglais solo
preceding Marguerite’s aria from Berlioz’s “La damnation
de Faust”, played by the Royal Opera House’s Graham Salter.

The German album was the last recorded here but the top notes are
still pure and plangent, the lower register, following her earlier work on
strengthening it after some criticism, fully capable of doing justice to
"Totenreich" in the "Ariadne" aria. As always with Dame Kiri, there is some
hoarseness and discoloration on the "ee" vowel in the middle of the voice
and there is perhaps some very slight loosening of the vibrato, but neither
of these things in any way much compromises enjoyment. There is no question
whether she can do justice to the Wagner arias: the voice soars as it
should, at least as recorded, and makes me wonder why she didn't take on
more Wagner on stage. There is scrupulous musicianship and care for the
beauty of line here but as much as I enjoy the Weber and the Wagner, the
Strauss arias are the glory of this disc, particularly the rapturous
apotheosis of Daphne which forms the concluding scene of the opera. The
orchestral playing here is as beautiful as the singing; indeed the
Philharmonia play divinely under Julius Rudel. The recital ends with a
glorious account of Korngold's famous "Glück, das mir verblieb", sung
as serenely and beguilingly as any singer before or since.

Not just for Te Kanawa's fans, this set also provides a great survey
of the role of the soprano in 19th and 20th century
opera
Ralph Moore